econ21 wrote:I would like someone to send me a memo about reinforcements in Isle of Conquest. How are they determined? It does not seem to be exclusively based on kills. I've won several battles of attrition by controlling all the objectives and am sure it was that, rather than a superior kill rate, which decided the fight. So I guess you lose reinforcements for death but maybe gain them from holding objectives? Rather like the mine in AV. Is that right? Is it all objectives or just refinery and quarry?

I think that Quarry and Oil Refinery both provide reinforcements and bonus honor.

Yes, I read that - although WoWWiki is not always up to date. But if it is true, I am curious why my side (Alliance) seemed to regard all bases as equally important for reinforcements and not just the refinery and quarry.

Not as puzzling as why the Horde did not seriously contest a single node though. They just watched their reinforcements slide ever further below ours for 5 minutes.

econ21 wrote:I would like someone to send me a memo about reinforcements in Isle of Conquest. How are they determined? It does not seem to be exclusively based on kills. I've won several battles of attrition by controlling all the objectives and am sure it was that, rather than a superior kill rate, which decided the fight. So I guess you lose reinforcements for death but maybe gain them from holding objectives? Rather like the mine in AV. Is that right? Is it all objectives or just refinery and quarry?

Good question, but a moot point. In Isle of Conquest (or AV, etc) it's all about speed. A 30 minute win is a loss. The focus is docks, hanger, and seige factory. Alliance tends to focus on docks, horde focuses on siege factory, and good groups both contest hangar. Refinery and quarry buff your siege vehicles, etc. They help, but are not critical to getting down the opposing faction's gate as quickly as possible and then killing their boss. The point is to get inside and run bombs while simultaneously hitting the gate from the outside with demo's/seiges/glaves. In terms of speed, it's just like AV where you cap the relief gy and 2 towers by opposing boss as quickly as possible. Everything else is nice, and will make it easier for your tank/heals, but not necessary. I can't emphasize speed enough. Kill/slow the opponents vehicles, while protecting your own. Turtles are bad. A war of attrition is a huge waste time when you're trying to cap your conquest points. In terms of honor and conquest, it's still better to complete 6 5min battles and only win 1 rather than fight 1 30min war of attrition. But if you're doing the right thing and focusing on friendly speed and delaying/slowing the opposing faction, you'll win far more than you'll lose.

I didn't realise that the Annual Pass thing didn't require actually paying the full whack up front. It was the only thing putting me off the first time around and I bet it would have taken all of 15 seconds of reading on the topic to clear up.

After playing in excess of 200 Alterac Valleys, I realise I don't understand how graveyards work. I know I shout at Alliance people who take IB GY at the start, as it seems to mean the Horde respawn at FW just was our attackers are arriving to claim it. However, if we assault FW Relief Hut GY could they still respawn there until the flag turns blue? I assume they could, but someone shouting for us to cap the GY made me wonder if merely assaulting it could stem the flow before it turns.

If it could I should probably ride straight for FW relief hut when the game starts, rather than call on Galv.

If a GY is contested, nobody spawns from it. For this reason, it's usually a good idea to grab Relief Hut/Aid Station prior to Frostwolf/Stormpike (so the opposing team spawns away from the choke point instead of causing a turtle.) This is especially true early on when there are a lot of contested GY and the opposing teams end up respawning closer to their starting points instead of near where they died.

*Disclaimer: I may have messed up the exact names of the GY, but you want to cap the last GY before the next to last one.

Riding straight to FW Relief Hut worked like a charm in my last battle, thanks.

Next new discovery: Isle of Conquest Keeps have a flag you can capture. Where is it? I guess it's in the courtyard where the dead enemy spawn. Is it a good move to capture it?

I tend to try to get 10-12 people to go hangar, parachute in and chain bombs to the west gate. Usually we don't take the Keep(in part because silly me didn't know you could) but if there are enough of us, the excess from the four bomb runners cull any enemy respawns. If the horde don't defend, it's a surprising fast way of taking down a gate. However, last time, we seemed to lack enough punch (or at least healing) to kill the general. In chat, we were chastised from not taking the Keep flag first (so dead could respawn there).

I guess it's a good move to take the Keep flag if you can (can you take the flag before the gates are down?) although I have read of the horde using the siege engine to camp the GY if captured.

Pretty sure it was earlier than that, because I'm almost positive I capped my Thorium Brotherhood during LK Pilgrim's Bounty (whatever the hell that holiday is called.) I remember getting the bonus rep from being human + the holiday boost. Was fun.

Didn't finish Timbermaw until June of last year though, so can't comment if that was boosted earlier.

Killing Drek with no towers down in Alterac Valley is so easy. Yes, I knew theoretically it was possible but assumed in practice it would be too risky a strategy for a PUG. However, last night, somehow people were persuaded (against my objection) to try it. I off tanked most of the lieutenants; another tank took Drek. It was effortless.

We killed Galv first, but my understanding is that - unlike the towers - that does not affect how tough Drek is or does it?

econ21 wrote:Killing Drek with no towers down in Alterac Valley is so easy. Yes, I knew theoretically it was possible but assumed in practice it would be too risky a strategy for a PUG. However, last night, somehow people were persuaded (against my objection) to try it. I off tanked most of the lieutenants; another tank took Drek. It was effortless.

We killed Galv first, but my understanding is that - unlike the towers - that does not affect how tough Drek is or does it?

Alliance scum...

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.

It's my understanding that killing Galv/Balinda is to prevent various NPCs from respawning (the archers defending the towers?) I'm not 100% sure that's true, but that's what I've been led to believe. Also, it reduces the opposing factions resources.